Advanced Knee Pain Treatment in Allenwood, NJ

New Jersey's United States Attorney's Office is opposing the early release of Steven Bradley Mell, the Bedminster millionaire serving time in federal prison for having sex with a teen in his plane while it was on autopilot.

Mell has asked a federal court judge for a second time to release him from the minimum-security Allenwood Federal Prison in White Deer, Pennsylvania, where he is serving a seven-year sentence, because he is afraid he may catch COVID-19 from a fellow inmate and that may lead to serious medical complications because he has Crohn's disease and primary sclerosng cholangtis, a liver disease.

Richard Levitt, Mell's new attorney, has filed papers in federal court asking for the release because of Mell's health conditions. Those papers are sealed because they contain personal health information.

But in an Oct. 14 letter responding to the request, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Astorga argues that Mell "has again failed to establish any basis for the court to grant his motion for compassionate release."

In her response, Astorga reveals that the teen was not Mell's first or only victim. Mell's abuse of a second minor victim, whose age was redacted, involved sex acts as well as sexually explicit images.

"Mell's conduct," Astorga wrote, "was not a mistake or an accident, but reflected a pattern of sexual abuse of minors."

Even if Mell were able to meet the "extraordinary and compelling reasons" to justify an early reason, Mell continues to pose a danger to the victim and the community, Astorga argues.

EARLIER: Stephen Bradley Mell, millionaire child sex offender, seeks prison release due to COVID-19 risk

EARLIER: Stephen Mell sentenced to 3 years in prison for sex with minor in Readington, Bedminster

READ:Millionaire faces sentencing for sex with teen on private airplane on autopilot

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled "the mere existence of COVID-19 in society and the possibility that it may spread to a particular prison alone cannot independently justify compassionate release," Astorga cites.

In response to Mell's suggestion that he be held in house confinement in Somerset County, Astorga contends that Mell "appears less likely to contract COVID-19 at Allenwood than if he were released in New Jersey."

There are no current COVID-19 cases at Allenwood and only one case has been recorded at the central Pennsylvania facility and the inmate has recovered. In contrast, Astorga said, there has been more than 6,000 COVID-19 cases and 510 deaths in Somerset County.

Astorga also noted that of the 125 federal inmate deaths attributed to COVID-19, four have occurred while on home confinement.

"Even the home confinement that Mell requests does not guarantee his protection from COVID-19," she wrote.

Mell, 55, was sentenced to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty in June 2019 to charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and coercion or enticement of a minor female.

In 2017, Mell began communicating with the 15-year-old through text messages and Snapchat. Communications between Mell and the minor soon became sexual when Mell asked the girl “if she knew how to perform oral sex.”

On July 20, 2017, Mell flew with her in his private plane from Somerset Airport to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, “for the purpose of engaging in illicit conduct, specifically, a sexual act with a person under the age of 18," according to the federal charges. On the flight back, Mell put the aircraft in autopilot mode and "engaged in sex acts" with the minor, the complaint says.

Before he pleaded guilty, Mell, who was a principal in a brokerage firm, lived on a 50-acre estate in an exclusive corner of Bedminster that had a six-bedroom house, a swimming pool and a helipad. A licensed pilot, the millionaire owned airplanes and helicopters, in addition to luxury cars, including an Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari. He also had a 25-foot boat named “Get Nauti.”

But his lifestyle at Allenwood is not as lavish. According to his motion for "compassionate release," Mell shares an 8-by-10-foot "cube" with two other men. There are 360 men housed in the low-security dormitory, the motion says, with only four toilets, four sinks and six showers that has "no social distancing opportunities and little opportunity to effectuate hand-washing."

If he contracts COVID-19, the motion contends, Mell would be "at higher risk of suffering severe illness" because of his preexisting conditions.

Mell, who serves as a financial literacy instructor at the prison, would reside at the home of a friend in Bedminster, the motion for his release states. He would also obtain employment as an analyst with an investment firm owned by a friend.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.